Islanders keep pace for playoff spot

Sunday

Apr 7, 2013 at 2:00 AM

UNIONDALE — Matt Martin scored the go-ahead goal with less than seven minutes left in the third period and Evgeni Nabokov made 19 saves to lift the playoff-hopeful Islanders to a 4-2 victory versus the Tampa Bay Lightning Saturday night.

The Associated Press

UNIONDALE — Matt Martin scored the go-ahead goal with less than seven minutes left in the third period and Evgeni Nabokov made 19 saves to lift the playoff-hopeful Islanders to a 4-2 victory versus the Tampa Bay Lightning Saturday night.

The Islanders remained in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, tied with the Rangers, who have the tiebreaker for seventh. Both teams lead the Devils, who are below the postseason cutoff, by three points.

The Islanders are seeking their first postseason appearance since 2007.

Michael Grabner and Josh Bailey also scored, and Andrew MacDonald added an empty-net goal at 19:46 to make it 4-2 for New York, which won for the sixth time in eight games.